Winter '09: Breakfast for two - Sweet pancakes & spiced potatoes (21/12)

I woke up that morning, walked into the living room and poked D buried in the couch.

Me: Hey breakfast? Savoury or sweet?
D: Mpphrgghhh.
Me: Ok both.

Before I start, I just want to explain that these two breakfast goodies are NOT meant to be eaten together. Unless you're a little bit strange. And lets face it, we're all a little bit strange, which makes those who are perfectly normal the strange ones.

Think about it.

Right, first the pancakes. Cinnamon is actually one of D's favourite things. I like cinnamon too, but he takes his love for cinnamon to a completely different level. Cinnamon flavoured chewing gum anyone?

So I present to you a step-by-step guide to making Cinnamon Apple Caramel pancakes... from scratch.

First get half a cup of sugar, two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of water and bring to a simmer. Be careful, simmering sugar is VERY HOT. You want to get it to a point where the sugar has dissolved into a syrup, and the syrupy mixture turns a caramel brown colour, like so:


Prior to mixing the sugar, you will have of course been super organised and cored and diced some apples. Most people prefer the apples peeled, but I like the texture of apple skin, so I kept this on. Remember, you need to get the apples ready because there is a point where the bubbling caramel mixture turns into caramel and is ready to engulf the apples in its warm sugary love. Wait any longer, the sugar burns and there's no turning back. You'll have a pan of burnt sugar which you need to scour, and missed out on really good caramel.



So go ahead and dunk your apples in! Mix to coat and let it simmer awhile more.
Now take some cinnamon. I happened to be in Tesco when I got this but cinnamon is cinnamon, so any one will do. Haha, my thumb is FATSSSS.

Dunk it in baby. Liberally. Don't hold back. Mmmmm... Arllughghhhlllhhgghhh (*Homer Simpson style*)


Now for the pancake batter, this is the mixture I have been using since time immemorial. Well not really, since a French friend of mine taught me how her mummy makes it: One egg, one cup flour, half cup water, half cup milk, and a little bit of salt. Only I changed it a little bit, and tweaked it to how I like pancakes! One cup flour, one cup milk rested with a teaspoon of vinegar (makes a good buttermilk substitute) one egg, a little bit of salt. Simple right? But soooo good trust me.


Next spray the skillet with some oil and put a little bit of batter, swirling to form a thin pancake. When the top starts bubbling, it's a good time to flip. Unlike this prematurely flipped pancake.

Make a stackful. I'll present the final product in a bit :)

Whilst you're doing all this, you would have been boiling some diced potatoes for your Spiced Potatoes! I boiled these in a chicken stock for extra flavour. Mmmm..

Spray some oil in a pan, cook some diced onions until translucent and soft and lay the cooked potatoes in one layer (so they all get the chance to be coated in a lovely crispy outer layer). Season pepper, cayenne pepper and Lawry's Seasoned Salt.

Get a little closer...


When one side is to your satisfactory level of crispyness (crispiness?), flip them and do the same with the other side.

Dish and serve!

Here's what the pancakes looked like stacked and drizzled with apple caramel topping, and of course the potatoes:

Lazy pants!

"Moleland: Eh how come you still work gym eat sleep?"

Yes ladies and germs I know the last blog entry was made 7 months ago. Shame shame! Drop and give meh twentehhh!

Now that previous post is absolutely prehistoric because no longer do I hit the gym. In fact, as per January 2009, my gym membership is officially cancelled. Incidentally one of my New Year's resolution is to lose 10 kgs. But that's counterproductive, you say. It boggles the mind! That's impossible! How will she do it? By sheer will power that's how! Also, I bought a purple pilates mat for £3.99 at Quality Save. All I need to do now is to unwrap the mat ever so carefully, place it ever so carefully on my living room floor and do it like my ex-Pilates instructor taught us to.

My goals for the year:

1. Wait on God with an expectant heart, continue to seek Him and His Word.
2. Lose 10kg
3. Save ££ for the LPC
4. Blog regularly and often (like so!)
5. Spend more time with people, no matter how much I loooove spending time alone, keeping in touch is important.

Inspired to write

I'm always apologising for not updating my blog regularly. Bad Elle, naughty Elle, *slap on wrists*. There we go.

Well to be honest the reasons are perfectly legitimate. In the past three weeks I am either:

1. Working
2. At church
3. In the gym
4. Cartwheeling around deeds packets trying to prepare reports on title
5. At client events
6. At work events
7. Preparing pitch documents
8. Out with friends who are either
8.1 Celebrating their birthdays
8.2 Celebrating their engagement
8.3 Celebrating being single
8.4 Going away to
8.4.1 Peru to teach English
8.4.2 Canada to be a lawyer
8.4.3 All over the world to, just travel... FOR A WHOLE YEAR!


Good grief my humble rented apartment is like a hotel. I don't even shower here anymore. It's basically work --> gym --> shower hair & make up at gym --> back to work to leave my gym stuff and swap my trainers for some nice velvet heels --> out for drinks at any of the above non-work situations. I am out of the house at 8am and back in at about 11pm to midnight.

My eyebags are bigger than my eyes!

Which is why I am REVELING in the face that it's the first Saturday in weeks that I am in my room, typing on my laptop at 2pm, STILL IN MY COMFY COSY PYJAMAS. My feet are thanking me, I can hear them now..."oooh baby thank you thank you for not making us trot around in three inch peep toes!". I walk around barefoot on comfy ivory carpet that we have in our cheap ya-ya aparment.

I am rested, happy and loving this me-time!

Perhaps I will even have time to post photos on Italy, Wales, and miscellaneous :)

Watch this space











Haha just kidding... I'll do it now.

Lets see, which one shall we do first?

Soulbaring

To be perfectly honest I like living here in the UK. The perks are endless - cheap journeys to continental Europe for travelling, an established and accountable government and systems, interesting people, a variety of places to hang out, eat, shop and explore and working here is not too shabby at all. Good friends and colleagues, and a great church family.

However I can't help wishing that I had more here - am I being greedy? I wished my family and friends from home were here. I wished Orchard Road was here. I miss Malaysian / Sgian conversations, my family and my boyfriend. Now to add to the confusion, Boyfriend is in sunny California.

I have been praying for an answer, a clear direction which is God's and not solely mine. Because Lord knows (literally) how confused I am. Should I/ Will I / Can I stay? Or should I go back to Sg/Msia?

Dear God,

You know the desires of my heart and that I long for a training contract here in the UK. My search has so far been futile and you know the disappointment I feel with each rejection that comes. I pray for your authority over my career, and that you will guide me to choose the right job and contract, and that I will succeed. I thank you Father for blessing me with my current job which I prayed for, for the experience has helped me grow in confidence and knowledge of the legal industry by leaps and bounds.

But most of all, I pray Father for you to show me where I should go, and grant me the patience, security and faith to wait upon You and seek You first.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Back from Italy

I'm back from Italy which was absolutely beautiful. I travelled with E, an old girl friend who I used to go to junior college with. Travelling with her, even if it was for just five days, made me miss my old life a lot, and I LOST WEIGHT JUST HANGING OUT WITH HER! Granted I was walking loads but my eating habits have evidently changed. I used to eat like she does, and every one else back home - healthy, and now I am this pudgy girl!

I am resolved to be my old self, a high achiever both inside and out!

Just because someone doesn't love you
in the way you want them to,
doesn't mean that they don't love you
with all they've got.

Hiatus

I am so sorry I've been away for so long! Sorry to the grand total of two people who read my poor journal.

Anyway the reason for my recent no-show is that I have too much work to do and after-work meet-ups to engage in. My poor home laptop has been severely neglected and I can't exactly blog from work... the horror!

Another reason is that I am trying to tie up loose ends as I am going to Italy this Bank Holiday weekend! Yes my dears, Rome, Milan and Florence here I come!!!! I am so excited everytime I think of it my tummy does a happy joyful jig of delight. This is something I am definitely blogging about when I get back. Come to think of it I am yet to blog about Wales. It's not entirely my fault though, everytime I try to upload even one measly photo, my computer freezes. It's past its time and should have retired a long time ago.